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Cisco · 200-301 · Associate · Intermediate

Cisco CCNA (200-301) exam objectives

Cisco publishes 6 exam domains with official weightings. The weight tells you where your marks come from, so your study time should roughly follow it.

1. Network Fundamentals

20%
  • Using the OSI and TCP/IP models as a troubleshooting tool, not trivia
  • IPv4 addressing and subnetting, including VLSM, practised until it is fast
  • IPv6 addressing, address types and basic configuration
  • Cabling, interfaces, and reading interface state from show output

2. Network Access

20%
  • VLANs, access and trunk ports, and inter-VLAN routing
  • Spanning Tree Protocol: root election, port roles, and PortFast/BPDU Guard
  • EtherChannel with LACP and PAgP
  • Wireless fundamentals: WLC architecture, AP modes, and SSID configuration

3. IP Connectivity

25%
  • Reading the routing table and predicting path selection
  • Administrative distance and metrics when several sources offer a route
  • OSPFv2 single-area: neighbour states, DR/BDR election, and common adjacency failures
  • Static routing, default routes, and first-hop redundancy with HSRP

4. IP Services

10%
  • NAT and PAT configuration and troubleshooting
  • DHCP server, client and relay behaviour
  • NTP, DNS and syslog in an operational context
  • QoS concepts and per-hop behaviour at a conceptual level

5. Security Fundamentals

15%
  • Access control lists: placement, direction, and implicit deny
  • Layer 2 protections: port security, DHCP snooping, dynamic ARP inspection
  • AAA concepts, and device-access hardening with SSH
  • Wireless security: WPA2/WPA3 and authentication methods

6. Automation and Programmability

10%
  • Why automation exists: configuration drift, scale, and repeatability
  • REST APIs, and reading JSON returned by a network device
  • Controller-based networking and Cisco DNA Center concepts
  • Comparing configuration-management tools: Ansible, Puppet, Chef

Our practice exam spreads its questions across these exact domains at these weightings, so your score in each one tells you precisely where you stand.

Practice these objectives free →

Domains and weightings as published by Cisco; last reviewed July 19, 2026.

Kwizza is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Cisco. Cisco names, logos and certification marks are the property of their respective owners and are used here only to identify the exam described. Practice questions are original, written against the publicly published exam objectives. No real exam content is reproduced.